A Princess And Her Sling
by Lora Kael
Summary: Timeline: Scorpion Mountain. Cassandra is angry at herself. She missed a target! Now she wonders where it went wrong and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. She is, after all, Princess Cassandra of Araluen, master slingshot and she intends to stay that.


**A princess and her sling**

This is set early in Scorpion Mountain. Written to explain what happened with Cassandra and her skills between The Emperor of Nihon-Ja and Scorpion Mountain.

* * *

Cassandra was angry with herself. After the initial shock had worn off and as they had questioned the would-be assassin, she had slowly realised how badly she had reacted today. Not too long ago she had been a fierce and formidable warrior in her own right, someone to reckon with, but not today. Today she had been like a startled deer. Both her aim and reactions had been off and she had been too slow. If it hadn't been for Thorn she would be dead.

She shook her head as she walked across the courtyard and out the portcullis. How did it go this wrong? She used to be a great shot with her sling, sure and hitting her mark every time, but she had missed the rabbit today. And she hadn't reacted at all to the assassin except to freeze. I froze! she thought angrily. Me, freezing in the face of danger. I survived a war in Skandia, I took out my capturer in Arrida, I fought against a giant tiger in Nihon-Ja! And I froze today!

She climbed up the nearest tree just wanting some silence and to be left alone for a while, while she brooded. She pulled out her sling and stared at it, letting her thumb run over the smooth leather.

But where did it go wrong? She hadn't been this bad since Skandia, she was sure of it. Slowly she started to realise it had happened not too long after coming back from Nihon-Ja. Instead of keeping focused on her practice with the sling she had turned all her focus on to the wedding. And she had practised less and less, but had mentally shrugged and thought it was okay, because it was just temporary and besides she had just proven how good she was.

She shook her head again and looked out through the leaves towards the forest where the assassin had hidden. Dear Lord, I've become complacent and lazy. Even after the wedding I didn't really practice properly, did I? No. Just some short rounds of target practice at the range every now and then, nothing serious. Horace trains all the time to hone his skills and keep them sharp and I just let mine stagnate and drop.

She sighed. This really was just going to reinforce her father's idea that she should stay inside the castle walls, and she hated being cooped up in there. If something didn't change she would probably not be allowed to leave the castle without being surrounded by knights or a couple of Rangers. Or both. In fact her father would probably not be happy with her once he found out that she had ventured outside the castle walls right now even if she was only some fifteen meters away.

"Cassandra? Are you all right?" As she looked down she could see Horace looking up at her.

She sighed. "Yes, but not really. I'm angry with myself," she explained.

"Why?" Horace asked in a reasonable tone.

"Because I was too slow today, because I missed the rabbit, because I froze!" she said angrily. "I've let myself slip, Horace."

"You've had a lot of other things on your mind lately, Cass. Don't beat yourself up over it."

But she shook her head. "If I don't do it, then who? You know my father won't since he'd rather I was just surrounded by knights to protect me, but you and my father can't always protect me. I learned that in Celtica and Skandia."

Horace was silent for a moment as he thought it over. It was true, he mused. He and King Duncan wouldn't always be around to protect Cassandra and she had been in more than one situation where she had had to fend for herself. And though he and Will had both done what they could to protect her, he also knew neither of them would always be there to keep her safe.

"You are right," he finally agreed. "We won't always be able to protect you. But I know you can fend for yourself, Cass."

But again she shook her head. "I could, Horace. But I'm no longer so sure I still can. I was slow today and I missed the rabbit. I shouldn't have. I was so proud of how well I did in Nihon-Ja that I thought I didn't need to practice quite so much any more, but that's not how it works, is it? You still practice daily, so does Will and he's arguably the best archer in the country. You have to keep practising or risk losing your skills." She suddenly remembered that Will had trained extra hard after he had been reunited with Halt again in Skandia, because his skills had suffered over the months. Back then she had assumed it had just been due to the damn herb that had taken so much of his strength, but now she realised it had probably been more than that. It had also simply been the lack of practice during all those months.

"Then do something about it, Hon. If you feel your skills have slipped, then train. Go to the range and practice till your arms ache from shooting stones at the targets." Horace looked at her with an open face and Cassandra knew he wasn't judging her for letting her skills slip. He was simply stating the obvious solution to it.

She nodded. "You are right. I need to get back to the range and train. I've lost my edge and I want it back." She stood up and worked her way back down. Horace stood ready to help her the last way down. He didn't much like climbing in trees himself; he left that stuff to Will, and in this case, Cassandra.

Cassandra smiled at him. She felt better now that she had had time to think about things and talk with Horace about it all.

Horace smiled back. "Glad you're back down. I really didn't want to have to climb up after you."

She laughed a little at that. "No, climbing isn't what knights do best," she said teasingly. She took his hand and squeezed it slightly.

"Feeling better now?"

She nodded. "Yes. I guess now that I have a plan to get my edge back, I am." Then she frowned slightly. "I also think I know where I went wrong; I reached my goal."

"What do you mean?" Horace looked at bit confused.

"I wanted to be so good with the sling that I could hit any target with just two spins and I did it. And because I reached my goal I became complacent."

"So what's the plan to avoid that happening again?" Horace asked as they slowly started walking towards the portcullis.

"Well, I think I'll do it like the Rangers. You know their saying: A normal person trains until they get it right, a Ranger trains until they doesn't get it wrong."

Horace nodded thoughtfully. "Yes... The Rangers know what they are talking about, don't they?"

"Exactly. I'll simply aim for Will's level of accuracy."

Horace laughed as they walked back into the outer courtyard. "In that case you don't have to worry about getting complacent again; that is a goal you'll never attain."

Cassandra stopped and put her hands on her hips as she looked up at Horace. "Really? Are you saying you don't think I'm any good with my sling?"

Horace shook his head, still smiling. "No, I'm saying that Will is the best marksman in Araluen and aiming for his level of skill will mean you'll always have something to strive for."

Cassandra slowly smiled, too. She knew Will would never call himself the best marksman in Araluen even if both her and Horace thought so. And she knew Horace was right; aiming for Will's level of accuracy and speed would give her something to constantly strive for and that was what she needed to keep the motivation to practice day after day no matter the weather.

She wrapped an arm around Horace and they started walking again. After a long moment of silence, Cassandra spoke again. "Do me a favour and never tell Will about this."

"Which part?" Horace asked. "That you missed a target or that you will now aim for his level of accuracy?"

"Both," she answered. "By the time I see him again I will hopefully be back to my former shape and skill. And I don't think his ego needs to know the last part."

Horace laughed softly. "Don't worry; I won't tell. And as long as Will doesn't meet our Skandian guests, I doubt any one else will." He paused for a moment. "Well, except Gilan. You might want to make sure he doesn't say anything either."

Cassandra cursed as she realised her husband was right. She would have to find a way to ensure Gilan wouldn't speak to Will about her failure either. "Maybe I can bribe him with food," she mumbled, and Horace laughed again.

She wowed she would be back at the range early in the morning, and from now on it would be every morning. Once again the sling would become an extension of herself and she would be an opponent to reckon with, even if your name was Will Treaty.


End file.
